Gnome
The ingenious gnomes, masters of technology and the former denizens of Gnomeregan, are a race of diminutive humanoids who now live in exile in the dwarven capital of Ironforge, in league with the Alliance. Introduction and History The eccentric, often-brilliant gnomes are one of the most peculiar races of the world. With their obsession for developing radical new technologies and constructing marvels of mind-bending engineering, it's a wonder that any gnomes have survived to proliferate. No one knows much about the gnomes' history before dwarves discovered them, not even the gnomes know much of their own history prior to the second war. Historically, there are some records of gnomes having contact with other races. There is the occasional historical documentation of individual gnomes having contact with humans and high elves in the northern continent of Lordaeron in Tirisfal Glades as early as 848 years before The Burning Crusade. The first recorded interaction between gnomes and dwarves occurred 200 years prior to The Burning Crusade. As the story goes, a dwarven explorer came across a small gnomish village. He was shocked to discover that while dwarves had just discovered gunpowder, the gnomes already had a fully automated village with such novelties as mechanical chickens. Contact between the two races grew, and soon, they became quick allies, and the dwarves allowed the gnomes to build their capital city, Gnomeregan in the foothills of Dun Morogh, near the capital, Ironforge. Shortly after this alliance was formed, the War of the Three Hammers occurred. Thriving within the wondrous techno-city of Gnomeregan, the gnomes shared the resources of the forested Dun Morogh peaks with their dwarven cousins. Though dwarves also have a propensity for technology and engineering, it is gnomes who provide the critical, visionary designs for most of dwarven weapons and steam vehicles. The gnomes served the Alliance well during the Second War. Strangely, they refused to send any personnel to aid their allies during the Burning Legion's recent invasion during the Third War. Though their designs helped turn the tide against the Legion, humans and Bronzebeard and Wildhammer dwarves were shocked by Gnomeregan's decision to withhold their courageous troops and pilots. When the Third War ended, the Alliance discovered the reason for the gnomes' sudden withdrawal. Apparently, a barbaric menace - troggs - had risen from the bowels of the earth and invaded Gnomeregan. Knowing that their allies' priority was defeating the Burning Legion, the gnomes decided to make their stand alone against the troggs. Though they fought valiantly to save their beloved city, Gnomeregan was lost and nearly half of the gnomish race was wiped out during its fall. The ragged survivors fled to the safety of Ironforge. Committed once again to the cause of the Alliance, gnomes spend their time devising strategies and weapons that will help them retake their ravaged city and build a brighter future for their people. Currently, gnomes can be seen living in numerous Alliance and Neutral cities such as Darkshire, Gadgetzan and Auberdine. One can also spot the occasional gnome hovel in places like Tanaris, the Hinterlands and Azshara. Their ruling council of the gnomes has reunited at Tinker Town in Ironforge. Their only notable settlement is in Blade's Edge Mountains in Outland - the only all-gnomish town known, Toshley's Station. Many gnomes can also be found in Thousand Needles, at Mirage Raceway competing with their goblin rivals. Description Gnomes are a diminutive, wiry race of tinkers who live underground. In the Second War, they built vehicles and gadgets for the Alliance — submarines and flying machines — to combat the Horde. They are great mechanics and inventors, and are renowned for their knowledge and eccentric natures. The gnomes had a city, Gnomeregan, built into Ironforge Mountain; but invading troggs destroyed it and slaughtered its citizens. Many survivors moved into Khaz Modan and now live with the Ironforge dwarves, and a few traveled with their dwarven friends to Kalimdor. The gnomes are still reeling from the destruction of their home city and are loath to leave the safety of the dwarven tunnels. Most gnomes on Kalimdor remain secluded in Bael Modan. Even after the decimation of their race and the destruction of their city, gnomes are an amiable and kindhearted lot. They make and keep friends easily; others find disliking a gnome to be difficult. Gnomes are long-lived and take a fatherly approach to other races, particularly humans. Gnome society is loosely organized. Most live in Khaz Modan and mix freely with the dwarves, sending representatives to speak to the dwarven king on their behalf. Those few gnomes who traveled to Kalimdor live in a similar fashion in Bael Modan. Gnomes are gifted tinkers. They have a penchant for creating radical technology and innovative designs. They often work together with Ironforge dwarves, developing the blueprints and concepts from which the dwarf smiths draw their inspiration. Culture Little is actually known about gnomish culture. Though what gnomish life really revolves around is unclear, it is perceived by most to be about striving towards the next levels of technology and knowledge through experimentation and tinkering (this is corroborated by the comments and clothing of gnome NPCs). Languages Gnomes speak Gnomish and Common. Gnomes know the languages of their friends and their goblin rivals. Technology Gnomish technology seems to focus on seemingly pointless, inane and impractical goals that are occasionally strewn with malfunctions and backfires, often as the expense of the user's health, well-being and physical form. This is most evident in Gnomish Engineering. Most gnomish experimentation focuses on bending the laws of time, space and physics, as seen in the many experimentation quests of Toshley's Station. While mainly impractical, such as the Gnomish Poultryizer or Shrink Ray, occasionally, they may stumble into something useful, such as the Deeprun Tram. Legacy The first historical account of a gnome is Erbag, the gnomish representative of the Tirisfalen during the early days of Aegwynn. Erbag was described as being highly talkative as well as rather impatient with Aegwynn. He stands as an accurate and general example of gnomish psyche. He was already inducted by the time of eight hundred and forty-eight years prior to World of Warcraft and spoke on par with his Human and Elven counterparts, despite their relative obscurity in historical records. Gnomes have not had Kings or Queens in 400 years. No other dates or facts have been given. Appearance Gnomes are small, slight and nifty. They somewhat resemble dwarves, but are even shorter, not as stocky, and have large heads in proportion to their bodies. They have large noses and ruddy skin, their ears are large and rounded, and their hair color varies wildly, some even having pink hair. They have four fingers on each hand. They are often seen with goggles, tool belts and other items related to their technological inclinations. Affiliation Gnomes have historically been allies of the Alliance races, namely, Dwarves and Humans, and have fought alongside them in most all Alliance wars. Having fought against orcs and Trolls in the previous wars, there may be some grudge against them. Their relationship with the Goblin races seems to be that of a rivalry (though whether or not it is a violent or peaceful one is up for debate). In regards to Tauren, they are considered to be rather primitive and rustic by gnomes. Gnomes in Night Elf territories are tolerated, despite the high number of gnomes who work with arcane forces. The gnomes believe that with their use of arcane magics and technology they offer something that night elves lack in defense of their lands. Faith Gnomes place their loyalty in themselves, in their friends and in their inventions. A few follow a loftier path and pay their respects to the Holy Light. Since the Ironforge dwarves' recent discovery of their Titanic origins, the gnomes think that they too may be products of the Titans. This is very uncertain, however; if it is true, the gnomes as yet remain estranged from their ancestral powers , with the exception of a few female gnomes within the sisters of steel that have shown abilities to turn their flesh to stone or steel. Gnomish names ]] Gnome parents name their children at birth. Gnomes have family names that represent an honored ancestor's achievements, but they only keep these names until some time in their thirties. At this point, gnome society expects them to have made their own achievements, and thus the gnome invents a new name that represents his own accomplishments. This name then takes the place of his family name. Famous Gnomes *High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque: Official Ruler of Gnomes *Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg: Refuted King of Gnomeregan *Lieutenant Greywand: The only ranking gnome in Alterac Valley *Toshley: Leader of Toshley's Station in Blade's Edge Mountains *Erbag: The oldest known mention of a gnome *Mekgineer Steamrigger: Naga-aligned Steamvault Engineer *Cohlien Frostweaver: (Deceased) Archmage of the Kirin Tor *Silas Darkmoon: Founder of the Darkmoon Faire Playable Race * The gnomes start in Coldridge Valley, an area of Dun Morogh closed off by mountains. * Their capital city is Tinker Town in Ironforge. * They speak Common and Gnomish. Starting Attributes Racial Traits ; Escape Artist : Escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect. Instant cast. One (1) minute cooldown. ; Expansive Mind : Increase Intellect by 5%. ; Arcane Resistance : Increase Arcane Resistance by 10. ; Engineering Specialist : 15 point skill bonus to Engineering (note, this also raises the cap by 15 at each level of Engineering). Classes Gnomes have fair starting stats for the rogue class. This is because high agility benefits rogue's critical hit chance and dodge chance. The melee damage of rogues (and hunters) is based on agility as well as strength. A notable feature that sometimes may give a gnome rogue advantage is their very short height. An unprepared and less alert enemy player might not notice the dangerous gnome rogue creeping near him, especially if his camera is pointed upward or he's distracted. Of course this advantage rarely appears and an experienced player knows to be alert! For Mage and Warlock classes, gnomes have an advantage (at low levels) because their high initial intellect means they have a larger mana pool (can cast more spells before running out of mana). The 5% intellect bonus given by the Expansive Mind trait is calculated after adding bonuses from gear, so it continues to offer an advantage even at high levels. Gnome Warriors have the advantage of being the only Warriors able to escape a root without use of items. Gnomes are the only race that have no classes with major healing abilities. This is presumably because gnomes are not traditionally religious and would not become a Priest, Paladin, Druid or Shaman, although some do revere the Holy Light . They do, however, have access to the Warlock class which has some limited healing abilities, in the form of the Healthstones, Soulstones, the Drain Life spell and others like it. Gnome lore classes *Ace *Bombardier *Sapper *Steam Warrior *Techno mage *Tinker Why Gnomes in the World of Warcraft? From Insider Interview — with Chris Metzen: Gnomes and Trolls as Playable Races from the Blizzard Insider: I think we deal with it a little bit in upcoming D&D supplements. During Warcraft II, the gnomes were, in effect, building weapons and lending designs to the Alliance - but they were staying out of any direct fighting. In Warcraft III and Frozen Throne, and even in World of Warcraft, it becomes clear that the gnomes have had internal problems of their own for several years. As of World of Warcraft, they still offer support to the Alliance in terms of building tanks, designing weapons, sending flying machines, and so on. But they had a problem at home that has recently been discovered - an ancient menace from the depths of the underground, called Troggs. The Troggs invaded the gnomes' city of Gnomeregan and wiped it out. The gnomes decided not to let the rest of the Alliance know about this because they figured that they could deal with it on their own. But Gnomeregan fell, probably thanks as much to the gnomes' own actions as to those of their enemies - they likely blew themselves up with whatever failsafe devices they used to defeat the threat. After the destruction of their homeland, the gnomes fled to the safety offered by their nearby allies the dwarves. Other Gnome Races * Sand gnomes - A race known as the 'sand gnomes' has been recently found in the Bone Wastes of Terrokar Forest on Outland. * Leper gnomes Category:Lore Category:Creatures Category:Humanoids Category:Races Category:Alliance races Category:Gnomes